Andrea Patterson Spring BandingComments Off on Soaking Rain Spoils the Day (and the next day too!)

Sunday May 31, 2015: I suppose we needed some rain, but the incessant soaker we had this morning spoiled any hope we had of opening the nets. We all met at the end of the driveway, said our seasonal goodbyes (as it’s the last Sunday of the season), and went back home!

Saturday May 30, 2015: 66 new birds of 18 species, 14 recaps. New species: Cedar Waxwing. Bird of the day was Traill’s Flycatcher with 18 new bands.

We hosted several guests today, including Doug and Lauren – two former banding assistants from Powdermill Avian Research Center near Pittsburgh, PA. They were in town for a wedding, and stopped in to see the action. It was fun to catch up on the banders we know in common, and to compare our stations’ differences.

It was a typical end-of-season morning, with a smattering of warblers and a bushel of flycatchers. The Blackpoll Warblers were singing non-stop, but we only saw three in our nets today. At one point, I put in a request for a Cedar Waxwing, as many of them were singing overhead. Doug and Lauren commented that you rarely get just one of the “Cedar People” (as they are affectionately known at Powdermill), and they put in a request for a whole flock. Unfortunately, they had to leave before either request was fulfilled. It turned out that we did just get a singlet today, but I suspect more will come in the days to follow.

This was ‘going home’ day for Ryan and Betsy, who both agreed it had been a very good spring season.

We had two groups visiting today … including a very interested group of retired nuns from the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Rochester and play-school friends of 4-year old Quinn. Pat and Tom Smith visited most of the morning. Both had often assisted with the banding operation at K-MB in the very early days of the station.

Later in the afternoon, the BBBO Board of Directors met for their spring business meeting.

Thursday May 28, 2015. 70 new of 24 species; 15 retraps. Bird of the day was again Traill’s Flycatcher with 10 banded.

The early morning got off to a good start with many new birds of varying species. As the day wore on, the number of birds from each net check dwindled. When the day was finished, our overall numbers were somewhat low, but the diversity of species was good.

Tuesday May 26, 2015. 67 new bands of 25 species; 15 retraps. New species Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

It was a slower day today, but an interesting one. We had heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo ‘singing’ in the early morning, and were delighted to capture it in the back aerial nets.

Bird of the day was American Redstart with 14 banded. Katie had a fair number of birds to test in the MARS trailer and Greg was also able to get more samples for his research.

We had a delightful group of Chili Senior Citizens who joined us on every net-run. We also had a visit from six students from Japan who were thrilled with seeing birds up close and the process of banding.

We enjoyed having 4-year old Quinn with us today (studying snails!) and also Iain and Ryley, who traveled all the way from Vermont to spend 2 days with us and with Dan Niven at the hawk blind.

Ryan worked on sprucing up the net lanes and all of us get ready for our annual picnic for volunteers and Memorial Garden service tomorrow.

Monday May 25, 2015. 220 new of 27 species; 12 retraps. Bird(s) of the day were Swainson’s Thrush with 29 banded, Magnolia Warbler (24 banded), Common Yellowthroat and American Redstart each with 23 banded, and Wilson’s Warbler with 22 banded.

We had many visitors today, beginning with Rodney Olsen with his son Ian and daughter Riley, who were great helpers all day. Another wonderful surprise was a visit from Sonya Rooney, who was excellent help at the nets all morning. Jeanne Skelly stopped by and it was great to have Virginia Duffy back for a few days from Florida. Mark Deutschlander arrived with his son Quinn, who helped by raking the mulch pile. Several families brought children who got a close-up look at the bird banding process.